Community stares down coal project

Last night, at a packed public forum in Deans Marsh, Mantle Mining’s director Ian Kraemar publicly announced that he would be withdrawing his exploration application for the Deans Marsh Coal Project. The proposal covers an area of 500 square kilometres.

“This is a great outcome for common sense,” said Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator Cam Walker.

“The time for further investment in coal, especially broad acre open cuts, is long over. Coal mining would have had a massive negative impact on local people, local economies, landscapes and waterways. It would have added huge greenhouse emissions to the atmosphere. It would have threatened a significant food producing region.

“This announcement is a testament to the communities of Forrest, Colac, Gellibrand and more broadly The Otway Ranges, who have stared down this company. It shows what is possible when communities mobilise.

“Victoria is potentially on the verge of a major coal bonanza, with many coal and CSG proposals being put forward. This is a resounding victory for communities in the first skirmish of what promises to be a long campaign.”

There are a number of other potentially destructive proposals for the region, including several coal seam gas permits, and a mineral sands proposal. Western Australian company Iluka Resources Limited has an application for three exploration licences around Irrewillipe for mineral sands, which comprise titanium minerals, zircon, monazite and xenotime, over a 150-square-kilometre area of private and crown land, about 15 kilometres south-west of Colac.

“We hope that Iluka and the other companies wanting to push unsustainable and unpopular projects hear the community opinion in the way that Mantle clearly has,” Mr Walker said.